2018 Chili Cookoff in Round Top

The Round Top Chili Cookoff, one of two annual fundraisers for the Round Top Family Library, turned 14 years old last weekend and it was a heck of a party. Now moved permanently off the town square where it began due to the need for additional space for cooking teams and, more critically, parking for guests, the event now occurs in the parking area of the Stone Cellar on the north end of town.

So where, you might ask, does everyone park?

Well, in the big parking area behind the adjacent dance hall. Except that last year, that wasn’t sufficient, so this year Round Top-Carmine ISD opened up its big lot next door. Guess what? Despite wet, misty weather, that lot filled up too.

You get the idea, this event is successful beyond its founders’ dreams. In an interview with RTFL head librarian Barbara Smith and longtime cookoff wrangler Betsy Harwood last Friday, the Record got some metrics. “The first year there ten teams; we cleared $1,400,” Harwood said.

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